b'8American Journal ofTransportation ajot.comDescartes report revealsCalifornia ports gear up to supply chain unpredictability build offshore wind portsDescartes U.S. Ports Report explains why a down year wasnt reallyBy Stas Margaronis, AJOTa down year for U.S. ports. TwoCaliforniaports,SeniorDirector,Policy LongBeachandHumboldtDevelopmentwiththeNor-medium=Datamyne+Website&utm_campaign=DTM_eMarketing_US_Port_ Bay, are gearing up to buildwegian offshore wind devel-By Peter Goldin, AJOT offshore wind ports but stilloperEquinorwhosaid: needfinancing.ThetwoTherearenowindfarms U.S.portsexperiencedsignaling real growth.importer, I would be thinkingportsplantobuildfacilitieswithout the wind ports. asurprisingyearin2023,Itisimportanttonotewe have a stronger and morethat will assemble and launchAn executive, who asked accordingtothe2024U.S.thatthisdatacountersthevibranteconomythanwefloatingoffshorewindtur- nottobeidentified,told Ports Report from Descartes.industrys low expectations fororiginally thought. bines to be deployed off theAJOT:Thereisplentyof With a few exceptions, 20232023. Woodsaystherewerecoasts of Central and North- capital in the United States to wasnottheyearthatmostmanyeconomicpredictionse astc oastV s . W estc oast ern California.support investments in these expected for the leading U.S.for what was going to happenOne port that stands outSuzannePlezia,Chiefportsandinoffshorewind ports of entry and that is notlast yeara likely recession,in the report is Port of Boston.HarborEngineer,PortofinCalifornia.Whatinves-necessarilybadnews,theas well as depressed consumerOut of the top 30 U.S. ports,Long Beach and Chris Mik- torsneedtoseeisthatby report states. demand and import volumes.Bostonexperiencedthekelsen,ExecutiveDirector,2030 there has been progress Despite decreased TEUs forBut that did not prove to belargest percentage increase inPortofHumboldtBay,dis- developing the infrastructure manyportswhencomparedthe case, and that is borne outTEUs over the previous yearcussedtheirchallengesatand deploying offshore wind to 2022, and overall volumeby the data in our report, he an impressive 36.2%. thePacificOffshoreWindturbines. Once that has been down11%fromtherecordasserts. If we look across theBoston made a very sig- Summit at Sacramento, Cali- demonstrated,theinvest-levelsattributedtoapost- lastthreeplusyears,wearenificant investment in improv- fornia on May 15th. ment funds will show up. pandemic rebound in 2022, theseeing increasing volume and(REVEALScontinued onSeveralotherSummitRight now, my biggest fear is industrydefiedpredictionsvalue of imports. If I was anpage 14) speakers echoed Kelly Boyd,(BUILDcontinued on page 12)ofarecession,withtotal containerizedimportvolumes throughU.S.portsgrowing 4.4%comparedtopre-pandemic volumes in 2019.e xPectt heu nexPectedI actually was surprised thatIwasntsurprisedby the data, says Jackson Wood, Director of Industry Strategy, Global Trade Intelligence for Descartes. This unpredictability seems to be par for the course now.Wood says 2019 was the lastnormalyearwhen therewasamorestable andpredictableinternational trading environmentand that iswhythereporthighlights thecomparisonto2019. Butthepandemicwasa generationalshocktothe industry, and we do not have aprecedentforcomparison. With this in mind, we cannot simply expect a return to pre-pandemic volumes. Webelievethereisnt necessarily a return to baseline anywhere in the near future, Woodexplains.COVID19 was the catalyst of this volatile erathatweseemtohave enteredinto,butitwasjust the first of many disruptions. Wood cites a range of diverse supplychainchallengesthat havecontributedtopost-pandemic instability, including theRussia-Ukraineconflict, Houthis attacking ships in the SuezCanal,historicallylow waterlevelsinthePanama Canal, and ongoing geopolitical tensionsbetweentheUnited States and China.So, one of the big themes that we talk about is: expect the unexpected, Wood says.B ettert hana nticiPatedInadditiontoimport volumessurpassing2019, late2023gainswerealso promising-October(4.3%), November (7.5%) and December (9.4%).Early2024gains wereevenbetter-January (9.4%), February (22.3%), and March(14.4%)-potentially'